We arrived in Khabarovsk about 4pm - just in time for the rush hour in this city of around 800,000. We weren't sure if it was correct or not but a bank sign read 41 degrees Celsius. All I know is that it was miserably hot sitting in stop and go traffic for almost 2 hours in full riding gear. The gear is designed with cooling vents that work quite well at speed in high temperatures but are pretty much useless when not moving. I didn't drink enough water during the day and we didn't stop for lunch - plus the heat and two hours in traffic pretty much wrecked me by the time we arrived at Lena's apartment. My body and mind pretty much went into shutdown mode until I was able to re-hydrate. In the future I need to make sure to stay hydrated and eat some food during the day.
Arrival in Khabarovsk.
Late night snacks at Lena's. The little stemmed glasses got filled a lot!
Phil, Lena, Ken and Mark.
Khabarovsk is one of the two major cities in the Far East of Russia - Vladivostok being the other. The city is at the confluence of two major rivers - one flowing in from China and the other flowing from Russia. We are about 50 kilometers from the China boarder here. At the confluence the river is so wide it looks like a lake and a several kilometer bridge was constructed about 15 years ago to get across. Before the car bridge was built only the train had a bridge and cars and people had to cross by ferry.
We enjoyed a dinner of excellent Chinese food with Lena and her friend Phil. After dinner we went back to Lena's apartment and engaged in good conversation and enjoyed some Russian spirits - which was basically moonshine. A home brew type of grain alcohol cut down with water and fruit flavored syrup. We also enjoyed watching videos of Phil's adventures in the mountains to the north and a trip he and several friends had made to Tibet. The footage was stunning with mountains, white water rafting and skiing/snowboarding. We shared photos of similar activities from the mountains of Colorado and rivers of Utah and the Grand Canyon. We all had a wonderful time together - certainly one of the best evenings of the trip so far. I don't know why it was a surprise that we were all so much alike - I guess we just develop preconceived thoughts of what other cultures are like. What we are finding is people from other cultures are much more alike than different - people are people and that is good!
Today Lena toured us around Khabarovsk. We were all moving a bit slow, paying the price for the night before, but I think Ken was in the worst shape. He turned into Silent Bob, maybe saying a half dozen words all afternoon. I wish I had had my camera for the walk through the city - but the battery was dead so I left in in Lena's flat to charge up along with my phone. Pretty much everything except my iPad has depleted batteries so it is good we got to stay at her place a night. We also got to do laundry in a real washing machine as opposed to our normal sink washings - luxury!
Tonight we are going camping with Lena and Phil to a spot they know on the river. Will be nice to camp in a spot we are supposed to be and not have to worry about being discovered by security. They say it is a beautiful spot so I am looking forward to it.
This is Joseph a fellow traveler from Germany who we met on the road. He was heading to Vladivostok.
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